National Football League

Report: NFLPA, owners to meet this week

Published Jan. 24, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith is expected to meet with the league this week in the hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement, profootballtalk.com reported Monday.

The report did not indicate exactly who would be involved in the meeting nor how long it was expected to last. FOXSport.com’s Jay Glazer reported earlier this month that a bargaining session between the players and owners would take place sometime in January.

The two sides have not met since before Thanksgiving. The report comes days after Smith reportedly told a group of players that the union was “at war” with the league. Commissioner Roger Goodell disagreed with that assessment, saying the stalemate was “a business dispute that we’ve got to get resolved.”

The deadline for reaching an agreement is March 4. If no deal is in place by then the owners have indicated they will lock out the players, leaving the 2011 season in limbo.